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Keith Hutchings, PC MHA for Ferryland, says the roads in the region are in deplorable condition and have now put the safety of residents at risk and access to other services, including emergency medical care, in jeopardy.

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

St. John’s, NL (December 11, 2018) – Keith Hutchings, PC MHA for Ferryland, says the roads in the region are in deplorable condition and have now put the safety of residents at risk and access to other services, including emergency medical care, in jeopardy.

“I have been informed that today is the third day of a delayed opening of Stella Maris Academy in Trepassey, as I was advised the school was unable to open again this morning due to poor road conditions as the depot in the Trepassey area had no working plough trucks. Callers to the depot were informed that they have two, but both are broken down. This meant the road wasn’t cleared or sanded until a truck was sent down from Mount Carmel, which was late into the morning. It was the same thing last Friday morning. The residents advise they were unable to get the roads cleared until after 11, and again, school was closed for the morning.” This has nothing to do with staff but rather the lack of resources.

Hutchings said, “Ball government Budget reorganization of services has taken equipment from the area, and priority maintenance has been ignored and has left our region with substandard snowclearing and road-sanding, closing the school repeatedly and jeopardizing the safety of people traveling on the highway for emergencies or other purposes.”

Over the weekend, the Renews depot was down from three snow ploughs to one. On Monday, a plough was assigned from Tors Cove, but the region was still down one plough.

In the last round of Budget cuts, a supervisor was taken out of the Trepassey region. When that happened, people were assured a plough would remain in the region to provide snowclearing quickly when needed so the highway would be accessible to emergency vehicles such as ambulances as well as school buses. But that did not happen.

“Because of the geography of the region and the barren country, high winds and drifting are quite common, causing treacherous conditions. Resources need to be in the region for the safety of residents. By failing to assign a snowclearing vehicle to plough the highway, and failing to fill vacant operator positions in a timely manner, the Ball government has not only left children unable to attend school repeatedly, but put at risk those who have no choice but to travel the highway. The Minister of Transportation and Works needs to explain why he left the region without adequate snow plough coverage when it jeopardized the safety of anyone who had to travel that highway for emergencies or other purposes,” said Hutchings. “I contacted the department over the weekend, but yet nothing has changed and school in the region is delayed again today. This is just not good enough.”